1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a detachable roof structure for an automotive vehicle, and more particularly to an improvement in such a roof structure of the type wherein a lid member is detachably disposed so as to cover an opening formed in a roof of a vehicle body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of detachable roof structures have been proposed and put into practical use in the field of automotive vehicles. A typical one of them is configurated as follows: A roof outer panel constituting a roof of an automotive vehicle is formed with an opening through which a passenger compartment is open to air. A lid member is detachably installed to the roof outer panel so as to cover the opening. The lid member is made up of inner and outer panels which are joined together other to form a one-piece structure by bending the peripheral sections of them downwardly and then spot-welding the bent peripheral sections to form a bent flange section of the lid member. Additionally, a weatherstrip is secured to the bent flange section to maintain a seal between the lid member and the roof outer panel.
However, difficulties have been encountered in the thus configured roof structure. For example, in connection with the forming process for the bent flange section of the lid member, the radius of curvature of the bent flange section unavoidably becomes larger. Additionally, the height of the flange section unavoidably becomes larger to ensure a dimension for allowing spot-welding. These considerably restrict freedom in design. In addition, water is allowed to enter between the flange section and the inner wall of the weatherstrip through depressions formed by spot-welding, so that the flange section tends to become rusted.